


everything goes in slow motion except for you (tell me is this love?)

by shiratakitaki



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arranged Marriage, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, also not really but, not really but
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:20:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28752054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiratakitaki/pseuds/shiratakitaki
Summary: It is way easier said than done to be in an arranged marriage. Both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are on the same page this time.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Do Kyungsoo | D.O
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	1. the talk

If Baekhyun had remembered it correctly, the day his parents told him that he had to marry one of the Do’s heir, he swore he didn’t have any heart conditions, but he felt as if a thousand knives came down to stab his heart.

He had just arrived in his home from his graduation trip with her friends, sun-kissed skin and all, his luggage on his left hand as he bent down to pet Mongryong, his pet Corgi.

“Do you miss me, Mongryongie? Do you? I’ve been away just for a week and look at you! What would you do without me, hm? Did Mom and Dad take good care of you? Hm? Hm??” He asked Mongryong a dozen of questions, babying his beloved pet when he heard footsteps coming towards him.

“Baekhyunnie, you’re back already!” His mom, clad in a sleeping gown already, came down the stairs, walking to give her son a hug.

“Sorry Mom, I didn’t mean to wake you!” He replied, getting up to hug his mom back. “Ah, you didn’t. I was actually waiting for you! Dad too. Come, let’s talk in the dining room.”

His mother waved her hand towards their butler, signaling him to take Baekhyun’s luggage to his room. Baekhyun shot his mother a confused look. It was over 11 pm at night, both of his parents weren’t exactly night owls as they had almost always slept early, so it was very suspicious for them to stay up to wait for him, but he decided to shrug it off and put down his luggage, and followed his mom to the dining room.

It was such a weird scenery, really. His dining table was filled with snacks, indicating that his parents were indeed waiting for him that night. His father, of course, dressed in his sleeping attire, smiled at him. Baekhyun could clearly see that he was trying to act as casually as possible, but who was he fooling? He is their only son, after all.

“Baekhyun, how was your trip? Did you have fun?” His father asked.

“Of course it was fun! It could be the last trip we took before we went our separate ways...” He trailed off, feeling quite sad all of a sudden, as he imagined separating from his friends. “Mom, Dad, I would really love to tell you all about my trip but seriously. What is really up between you two? Is there anything you guys need to tell me?”

His parents looked at each other before finally sighing. “You really love to cut to the chase, don’t you, Baekhyunnie?”

“You guys never really stay up all night. It’s simple math, really. So?” Baekhyun’s fingers tapped on the dining table impatiently, waiting for his parents to speak up.

“Promise me you won’t lash out?” His mother’s pinky finger slid on the table, and Baekhyun swore his mom offered the sweetest smile he ever saw, the kind somebody would give you when they require something from you. There must be something behind this; he thought quietly.

“Depends. Is it good news or bad news?” He asked, frowning, and crossed his hands in front of his chest. This must be serious and urgent; his parents won’t try to engage him in such a conversation when he was just coming back from a trip, let alone late at night.

“If it was up to me, then I’d say it is good news.” His father replied, keeping a faint smile on his face.

“How is your relationship with Kyungsoo?” His mom asked, pulling her hand back since Baekhyun showed zero interest in linking his pinky finger with hers.

“Kyungsoo...? Kyungsoo as in... Do Kyungsoo?” He asked, feeling weirded out, and his parents nodded. “We’re good friends? I mean, not the best of friends, but we sure get along pretty well. I think the last time I met him was a few months ago... you know, during the Kim’s banquet?” he recalled. “Why are you asking me this? Is there some collaboration between you and The Dos that require my help?”

It is true that they were not the best of friends. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo grew up in the same neighborhood, as both of their grandparents are business partners since forever. They shared the same love for singing and even went to the same middle and high school. Though they were quite close friends during school, they went separated at college, and both of them grew distant from each other. Kyungsoo was busy with his engineering degree, whereas Baekhyun was too preoccupied with his business degree. After school lunches and small, fun chit chats between them gradually turned into “less informal, more business” talks.

Bad feeling pooled in his stomach when instead of answering immediately, they sighed and stared at each other before finally, his father opened up his mouth to speak. “Well... you see Baek, our family and The Dos have been very close since forever. It was Grandpa’s dream to join our two families altogether, and thank God we managed to do that by merging with Do,”

The two families have always been closely related since way back, and it made quite the headline in the business world when the steel industry giant Do Corp. merged with Byun Industry years ago. “But Grandpa, me, and your mom wanted our families to merge too, not only our companies. So that’s why we had discussed with Kyungsoo’s parents too, of course, that marriage is the best way to do so.”

It was then Baekhyun felt as if a thousand knives came down to stab his heart. For God’s sake, he was still dressed in his Hawaiian shirt! “For the love of God, can’t you guys just wait until tomorrow? I just came back! And now you’re dropping this huge news casually?” He stood up, massaging his palm. Although he didn’t suffer from any headache, he was sure it would come up later. “Discussed with Kyungsoo’s parents, what kind of bullshit is that! Have they even discussed this with Kyungsoo?”

“Of course they had, Baek. We also had talked to him about this, and he agreed.”

That statement stunned him. Why didn’t Kyungsoo tell him immediately instead? What was happening? His brain was fuming, and he decided to go to his room to cool down and process everything.

“Save this talk for later. Both of you are giving me a headache! Jesus, can’t this just wait until tomorrow?” he muttered the last bit and quickly ran towards his room before his parents could call him.

Heart still beating fast, he plopped down his bed and stared blankly at the wall above him. Hearing questions regarding potential girlfriends or boyfriends are enough trouble for Baekhyun. But a marriage proposal? Let alone a sudden one? He shuddered and moaned into his pillow, clearly frustrated. After staying in that position for a while, he immediately unlocked his phone and called Kyungsoo.

After a few rings, the other finally picked up the phone, voice hoarse. Certainly, he had been sleeping before.

“Hello, Baekhyun?”

“Save that hello for later, asshole. What the fuck did you just agree to?” he spat. The other caller didn’t immediately answer, and truthfully, Baekhyun felt kind of bad. He must be sleeping soundly before Baekhyun bombarded him, but then Baekhyun felt he was justified to give this kind of treatment to Kyungsoo.

“The marriage thing?”

“Of course! What else? Or is there anything more horrific you and my parents have been discussing behind my back all this time? Do not play dumb with me, Kyungsoo! Why didn’t you tell me immediately after agreeing to it! I’ve just graduated for fuck’s sake! And now you agree on this stupid shit? Is marriage some kind of joke to you? What the fuck is wrong with you! Both of us are still young, you still have a lot to do, and those things definitely do not include the whole marriage agenda!” he yelled and yelled, he was pretty sure his parents could hear her downstairs, but he didn’t really care anymore. The line went silent for a couple of seconds before Kyungsoo finally spoke up.

“You done, Baek?” he answered.

“You think? I stopped talking, you dipshit! This is a damn conversation; it goes both ways! Jesus, fuck.”

He could hear him sighing, and the image of his dear childhood friend pushing away his phone away from his ear emerged.

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 7 pm, okay? How does that sound? We’ll talk it out face to face. You just got home, right? You must be tired. Go get some sleep first.” This is so Kyungsoo, the way he faced lash-outs calmly and always want to settle things face to face, he thought.

“Aw, how very nice of you, Kyungsoo. How come you’re so perfect? Caring about my well-being, but you didn’t bother to call me after you. had. the. fucking. talk. with. my. parents! You know what, why don’t we just fucking talk right now? Huh?” Baekhyun answered sarcastically, and though he managed to keep his tone calm at the beginning, he lost his composure again and started yelling at Kyungsoo.

He heard the other caller exhaled his breath before Kyungsoo finally answered. “Baek, nothing good ever comes out of angry discussions. You should calm yourself first. I promise I will explain it to you tomorrow, okay?”

“Whatever. I am still so fucking angry at you, dipshit.” He said and hung up immediately, not giving Kyungsoo a chance to say good night.

He tossed his phone to his bed and walked towards the shower. That night, he decided he’ll lock himself all day in his room tomorrow and will only come out if it’s really necessary. He thanked God both of his parents wouldn’t be at home tomorrow, so he could have one day as a break before he met Kyungsoo.

Baekhyun refused Kyungsoo’s offer to pick him up, as he was still furious and didn’t really want to interact much with the latter. He decided to drive to the restaurant Kyungsoo chose for them to have “the talk.” It was quiet, the restaurant did not have many customers at that moment, and it was perfect for a sense of privacy. After the waiter left their table, Baekhyun stared at Kyungsoo with daggers in his eyes.

“Explain,” Baekhyun asked, no, demanded.

Kyungsoo, as calm as ever, took a sip from his champagne glass and pushed the rim of his glasses up his nose. “Family comes first.”

Baekhyun rolled her eyes sarcastically. “As much as I love your mysterious way of explaining things, I’m not in the mood right now.”

Kyungsoo took a deep breath and leaned his body upfront towards him. “To put it simply, Baekhyun, I had agreed on this because I do not want to disappoint our family. Deep down, you know they won’t take no as an answer, right? You know I’m not the type to back down before the war starts. But this is an entirely different matter, no? Both of our grandparents, bless their soul, really wanted this family to be… tied together. Merging our companies isn’t enough. You’re an only child, and I am the most possible candidate. My brother, Seungsoo? He’s married already. My family isn’t into polygamy, you see.”

Baekhyun couldn’t help but chuckle at the last part. Kyungsoo then took a sip of the chilled Chardonnay in front of him before continuing. “Besides, by agreeing to this marriage, we are benefiting each other.”

“Benefit?” Baekhyun asked. “If the benefit you’re talking about here is losing our youth by marrying somebody our families chose for us, then I agree.” He said, faking a smile.

“You’re not looking into the bigger picture here, Baek,” Kyungsoo replied, one of his eyebrows lifting up. “I thought you were supposed to be smarter in business. Two bright, promising heirs marrying each other is good news to the public. We gain their trust. They believe that our enterprise is in good hands, and it’ll grow faster than before. That is the benefit I was talking about.”

Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows. He took a bite from the pasta in front of him, taking his sweet time before replying. “Save all the talk about not wanting to disappoint your family, Kyungsoo. We’re adults; our parents don’t get to decide our decisions, let alone in marriage. So it’s all about money, then? Are you really that greedy?”

“Not greedy, Baekhyun. Frankly, I am just being visionary.” Kyungsoo said, matter-of-factly.

Deep down, Baekhyun kind of agree with Kyungsoo. It all seemed logical; he simply did not want to agree with Kyungsoo immediately for the sake of his pride. By accepting this marriage, he felt like his pride was hurt enough already.

“Interesting view,” Baekhyun replied and took a big gulp from the wine glass, staring at Kyungsoo intently after finishing his drink. “I would need some time to think about this. It’s the least I can have; I did not have the privilege to know about this news first as you do.”

Kyungsoo nodded and took Baekhyun’s words as a signal to end the marriage topic. He then waved at the waiter near them to refill both Baekhyun’s and his glass. The rest of the dinner was quiet, with both of them not exchanging many words aside from the small talks about their graduations and Baekhyun’s recent trip.

When they finished dinner, Baekhyun was quite taken aback when he found out that Kyungsoo had paid for both of their meals, to which Kyungsoo had responded with a shrug. "It's the least I can do." He said.

Though they had small talks back in the restaurant, the silence between both of them when they were waiting for their valet was quite awkward. The silence was broken when Kyungsoo’s car arrived first, and after bidding goodbye to Baekhyun, he simply said, “Remember to think about the bigger picture, Baekhyun.”


	2. the agreement

Ever since the night Baekhyun’s parents dropped the bomb on him, they practically walked on eggshells around Baekhyun, careful not to provoke any yelling from the sole heir of the Byuns. Deep down, Baekhyun was relieved his parents behaved this way rather than pestering him with many questions. This way, he could think more clearly about his decision. _It’s technically not a decision since I am obligated to do it_ , he thought silently.

After two weeks of thinking, Baekhyun had made up his mind and decided to inform Kyungsoo first regarding his decision rather than directly telling his parents. He felt lowkey kind of scared that if he had told his parents first about his decision, they would grow too ecstatic and plan the wedding right then. As he headed down to the kitchen with the phone in hand, ready to dial Kyungsoo’s number, he stopped mid-way. To say he was surprised was an understatement when he suddenly spotted Kyungsoo lurking around in his kitchen, a glass of what seemed to be hot tea on Kyungsoo’s grip. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Your parents told me to come here for dinner. Who am I to reject the offer?” Kyungsoo replied, stirring his tea casually as if he was in his own kitchen. Of course, it was too good to be true that Baekhyun’s parents were giving him space. Baekhyun was a hundred percent sure that they invited Kyungsoo so they would have more time to bond and maybe, just maybe, hoping that with the sight of Kyungsoo more often in Baekhyun’s life now that they both had graduated, Baekhyun would finally agree to the marriage. “You were going to call me anyway. Why are you so surprised seeing me in person?”

It took a few seconds for Baekhyun before realizing that his phone was still unlocked, displaying Kyungsoo’s contact name brightly.

“Kyungjaaa. Huh. I see you haven’t moved on from our childhood nicknames, Baekhyun. Appreciate the extra As you added there.” He smirked, nodding his head to Baekhyun’s phone direction.

 _Fuck, why did I have to set up my phone’s brightness to the fullest?_ Baekhyun cursed silently. “Whatever. I was going to call you because I finally made up my mind, and unlike a certain someone, I have the balls to inform the person related to this piece of information first, rather than my parents.” Baekhyun replied, taking a seat on the vacant barstool next to Kyungsoo.

The other huffed in annoyance. “You’ll never let this go, aren’t you?”

Baekhyun decided to ignore the question, taking a deep breath, and looking at Kyungsoo straight in the eye. “Let’s get married. But I have a few conditions, and trust me; this will come in handy for both of us.”

Kyungsoo simply nodded as a response. “Good to know. Go on.”

“They’re not that hard to follow, to be honest. First, we will sleep in separate rooms when we move in together. Second, though we’ll be bound legally, no wedding contract should limit us from seeing whoever we wish to see. Third, let’s set up a time limit.” Baekhyun explained, straight to the point.

The last rule piqued Kyungsoo’s interest. “Time limit?”

“Yes. Being bound in a loveless marriage for the rest of our lives sucks. Why not give ourselves a favor? By marrying each other, we satisfy our family’s wish, right? After fulfilling that wish, it’s all up to us. 3 years and we’re free. How does that sound?” Baekhyun bit his lip after proposing his idea. Both of them were still young, freshly graduated from university. 3 years of serving their families the ideal imagery of marriage would mean nothing to them. After divorcing one another, both could still be free to do whatever they want and be with whoever they want to be.

“You’re true to your words, Baek. These rules sure will come in handy for us. I agree.” Baekhyun hummed as a reply, satisfied with Kyungsoo’s response, though the slight expression change in Kyungsoo's face went unnoticed by Baekhyun. “Aside from your conditions, I will only add one. I can’t promise you anything in the future regarding a stable relationship, Baekhyun. Our marriage will simply be a marriage of convenience; that’s all. So please, do not put your hope in me.” Kyungsoo said those words in such seriousness, eyes staring intensely at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun really wanted to retort back, _who says I want a stable relationship with you, jerk,_ but he figured that it was not wise to do so. “Sweet.” He replied, biting his inner cheek to hold himself from retorting to Kyungsoo. “Never knew that marrying someone would be this easy,” Baekhyun added, to which Kyungsoo responded with a hum, opting to focus on drinking the tea rather than facing Baekhyun.

Both of them went silent after that, with Baekhyun busying himself by scrolling through Instagram and Kyungsoo plugging his earphones, indicating that he did not want to be disturbed. The silence was only broken when Baekhyun’s parents came down the stairs and met them in the kitchen, cooing at them seated next to one another, though the atmosphere was still quite awkward. It was only after Baekhyun finally said he wants to marry Kyungsoo that his mother clapped in excitement and as Baekhyun predicted, both his parents immediately bombarding them with wedding preparation plans.

“Enough Mom, you’re making him uncomfortable. Hell, even I am uncomfortable.” Baekhyun grumbled, taking a peek at Kyungsoo, who managed to keep his smile plastered on his face politely.

“Oh hush now, Baekhyunnie. Kyungsoo loves wedding preparations! In fact, you were the one who helped the cooks prepared the meal in Seungsoo’s rehearsal dinner, right Kyungsoo-ah?” Baekhyun’s mother gushed, smiling from ear to ear as she added even more side dishes to Kyungsoo’s plate.

Before Kyungsoo could come up with a reply, Baekhyun’s father chirped in. “Kyungsoo here also helped cooking the meals for your grandparents’ 50th anniversary, Baekhyunnie. That was very kind of you, son. My Dad was thrilled on that day. We never knew you were such a good chef!”

Kyungsoo politely declined Baekhyun’s mother's endless scooping of side dishes and gave small laughter as a response to Baekhyun’s father. “It was years ago, uncle. Don’t mention it. I’m always happy to help.”

During dinner, the rest of the conversation was dominated by praises for Kyungsoo from Baekhyun’s parents and never-ending talks about the wedding, such as _who should we invite to the wedding? You don’t mind if we invite Dad’s colleagues, right, Baekhyunnie? Should we hold the party in a ballroom or a garden?_ After the dinner that felt like an eternity to Baekhyun finished, Kyungsoo stood up to excuse himself and bid goodbye to Baekhyun’s parents. _Finally_ , Baekhyun thought. A _nother talk about which event organizer should be hired for my wedding, and I might just cancel it altogether_.

“I think it’s time for me to go home now, Auntie, Uncle. I am very thankful for the dinner invitation.”

“Ah, the night is still young, Kyungsoo! Why don’t you and Baekhyun go somewhere nice first? You guys should talk more to each other like you used to!” Baekhyun’s mother suggested excitedly, eyes beaming up.

Baekhyun groaned, and before he could make up some excuse not to go, Kyungsoo replied. “I would love too, Auntie. Only if Baekhyun wants to go too, of course.”

Baekhyun knew that Kyungsoo was tired as well from all the wedding talks and just wished to go home quicker. He huffed and tried to put his most believable excited face as he faced his parents. “Sure. Mom, Dad, off we go now.”

Baekhyun decided to take his dinner guest for a walk to a park near his house. He usually went out at night for drinking or late-night snacks, but truthfully, he was nowhere in the mood to get drunk, let alone get drunk with Kyungsoo. As Baekhyun expected, the walk was quiet; only the sound of their footsteps was heard and the occasional cars that passed by.

“I never knew you liked cooking,” Baekhyun finally decided to say, breaking the deafening silence between them.

“Just a habit I had developed during high school.” Kyungsoo shrugged.

“Really helped me through living alone during college. Up until now, actually.”

“Uh-huh. Um, so you don’t live with Auntie and Uncle anymore, now?”

“No. I’m better living on my own. I’d still visit them often, though.” Kyungsoo continued.

After replying to Baekhyun, Kyungsoo didn’t say another word, much to Baekhyun’s dismay. As much as he despised the thought of getting involved in an arranged marriage, Baekhyun was hoping the least Kyungsoo could do was trying to get to know him better. After all, they used to be close to one another. A _nd the fact that I’m marrying you should be enough reason for you to engage more in this conversation,_ he thought silently to himself. When they arrived at the park, both of them sat on a bench, watching a few skateboarders showing their skills on the skate track in front of them. It was then Kyungsoo finally opened up a new conversation.

“How about you, though? Why are you still living with your parents?”

Baekhyun waited a few seconds before replying. He was eager to live alone, though. He was used to living by himself for the past four years during college, plus the fact that when he immediately got home after his graduation trip, the wedding bomb dropped on him.

“You see, I am an only child. I could just walk out the door and live by myself, you know. But my parents would be lonely without me. Even though they’re getting on my nerves nowadays…but they’re my parents. I care for them, and I love them."

Kyungsoo hummed in response. “A family man indeed. I assume they are one of the reasons for you to finally agree on this marriage, then.”

“What else is in store for me to agree beside them and the company?” Baekhyun scoffed, kind of annoyed since the wedding topic was brought up again.

As they head back home, Baekhyun tried to strike up conversations, hoping for Kyungsoo to ask more about him, but he was up for disappointment. Every question Baekhyun asked or every topic he tried to bring up was either responded by a nod, a hum, or a short answer from the other, without Kyungsoo showing any interest to ask him back. When the gate of Baekhyun’s house was in front of them, Baekhyun has had enough and snapped.

“Okay, Kyungsoo. I’m trying to be nice here; I’m trying to get to know my childhood friend again after growing apart for years. No, in fact, I’m trying to get to know my husband to be. Why do I feel like I’m having a one-sided conversation with you? Why are you so damn quiet?”

They stopped in their tracks, Kyungsoo turning towards Baekhyun to face him. His left hand pinched the bridge of his nose, raking up his glasses slightly, and he exhaled.

“People change Baekhyun-ah. It’s only natural. Can’t expect me to stay the same after all these years, right?”

“We’re going to be married for convenience anyway. The only difference would be we’re going to live under the same roof. Legally bound by a contract too, I suppose. Getting to know each other on the surface is enough.”

Baekhyun was dumbfounded, stunned at his response. There’s no harm in wanting to know your soon-to-be-husband better, right? Let alone he was your childhood friend. Even though they were not really a couple, the least they could be are good friends who happen to live under the same roof. As Baekhyun was still unable to speak, still in disbelieve, Kyungsoo had entered his car. He rolled the window only to bid goodbye to Baekhyun and simply said, “It is what it is, Baekhyun-ah. Good night and see you soon.”

Baekhyun didn’t reply, didn’t even wave at Kyungsoo as he only stood there and watched Kyungsoo drove away, disbelief prominent on his face. The wedding prep talks were enough burden for him, and now his husband-to-be decided to be even colder towards him, showing no effort to at least _try_. Baekhyun wanted to just scream in frustration. He didn’t realize the years they spent apart from each other had turned his dear childhood best friend into someone cold and distant. That night, Baekhyun wondered whether the next 3 years of his life would be spent stuck in an unhappy marriage.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I decided to give this fic a go because I really love fics with the theme of arranged marriage, but I could only find a few with Baeksoo pairings (and it's also because I miss Kyungsoo very much lol, so happy he is going to be officially discharged soon!).  
> I think I would make this fic not very long, but it is definitely going to be a chaptered one. Hope you guys enjoy it!
> 
> p.s this is unbeta-ed, so sorry for any inconvenience :(


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